Sponge, Table, Pads: Exchange Space

Author

Ou Yang, Chun

Date

2012-09-05

Advisor

Witte, Ron

Degree

Master of Architecture

Abstract

This thesis takes the typical one-to-one relationship between a tower and a lobby and asks what if a three-layer base that produces a higher density and a scale exceeding the physical boundary of a single office tower replaces the lobby. Combing retail, conference facilities and recreation the base at once consolidates the programmatic needs of office workers and thickens the singular exchange of lobby-office-lobby to one of recreation-lobby-retail-office-lobby.
Spanning the length of a ten-acre site in London, the base establishes a large horizontal floor plate and introduces big-box retail and an economy privileging lower prices onto a site surrounded by boutiques and mom-and-pop stores. Instead of planar adjacencies, retail and towers overlay in section. Vertical, horizontal and transverse circulations intersect, turn and unite, forming new programmatic possibilities and proliferating the cultural, economic and social life of a tower onto the city.